Generally, brooms include a handle and a plurality of bristles extending from an end thereof. Specifically, brooms often include a hub disposed adjacent one end of the handle to which the bristles are attached. Commonly, the bristles are attached by placing the bristles around the hub and then wrapping a wire around the bristles thereby capturing the bristles between the wire and the hub. Devices of the above mentioned character are often formed by placing the handle in a spindle which rotates the handle. As the handle is spun, the wire is coiled around the bristles. Traditional handles are formed from wood or other similar material. To retain the wire in place and prevent uncoiling, an end portion of the wire is often looped around a nail which is driven into the handle.
Although the above described brooms perform adequately, it has been found that it would be desirable to utilize different materials for the handle. For instance, one may wish to utilize handles constructed of metal. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,437 to McMillen discloses a broom having an elongate tubular handle formed of metal and a plastic cover extending over the surface of the handle. The plastic cover includes a plurality of external ribs to provide gripping of the handle both during the winding operation or during use at a later time. In addition, McMillin teaches broom hubs which include a plug that is receivable within an end of the handle. The broom hub provides a hole to receive a leading edge of the wire. Finally, the wire is retained in place by a pin which is inserted into the metal handle.
Although the device to McMillin advances the art, brooms constructed in accordance with the teachings of McMillin have been found to have several drawbacks as well. First, such brooms require the pin to be driven into the handle. However, doing so may require additional cost due to having to provide the handle with an opening to receive the post. Secondly, such brooms require the user to spin the entire broom, including the handle, during the manufacturing process. However, it has been found that it would be desirable to provide broom hubs which can be spun without requiring the handle to be attached. Therefore, the handle may be secured to the broom at a later time if desirable. One skilled in the art can best appreciate that manufacturing brooms without the handle being attached would allow for more compact storage, for a less cumbersome manufacturing process, and for different implements to be alternately attached to a single handle. Finally, securing the wire to the pin may be time consuming. During the manufacturing process, the wire is fed into the leading hole and then wrapped a distance along the handle. Once the wire has been wrapped around the hub, the wrapping process is ceased by disengaging the machine utilized to spin the handle. Next, the operator must digitally grasp the wire and manually wrap the wire around the pin. One skilled in the art can best appreciate that performing this operation is time consuming.
To further advance the art, other devices have been proposed. Specifically, it is well known in the art to form broom hubs with an integrally formed post disposed on an outer surface thereof. The broom hub is fitted over the broom handle and secured thereto. Brooms formed in this manner have been found to advance the art. Since these devices allow for the wire to be secured by a pin disposed on the surface of the hub rather than with a pin that extends through the plug and handle, as in McMillin. As such, the broom hub may be more easily attached and removed from the handle.
Although such devices advance the art, these devices also have several drawbacks as well. First, using an integrally formed pin as the wire retention mechanism has proved to lack the structural integrity to operate effectively over an extended period of time. In particular, integrally formed pins have been found to fail if they impact an external surface or merely due to bending stresses realized due to tension in the wire. Secondly, such devices still require a substantial amount of manual labor to wrap the wire around the pin. One skilled in the art can appreciate that several advances could still be made in the art. Specifically, it would be desirable to have a wire retention mechanism that effectively retains the wire while reducing the opportunity that the wire retaining mechanism, such as the pin described above, fails with use. In addition to providing a device that performs effectively, it would also be desirable to provide a wire retention mechanism that reduces the amount of manual labor required to assemble the broom. Lastly, it would be desirable to assemble a broom in a manner that allows for the broom hub to be interchanged with other elements.